Picture Post

Us on the Aran Islands
"ahhhhhhhhhh!"
At the bonfire in Galway

Starting things off right at the 'stache bash

Awww

My roommates at the bonfire
We spent last night on the beach

Things are wrapping up. People are leaving. What do you say when people say "I guess this is the last time I'll see you". Seriously, what can you say! So far I've gone with 

A) Yep. B)heh...heh....look over there! and C) Don't worry, we both live in North America, I'm sure our paths will cross. 

Look forward to coming posts on 

-The 'Stache Bash

-How we almost started a riot in Tesco

-My love for the DART

-Whatever happens in these final days. 

It's the final countdown.....

Scene: Saturday morning, in my kitchen
Hannah: What are you doing today
Me: Not too sure
Hannah: We're going to the Aran Islands in a few minutes, want to come
Me:.....let me go get my toothbrush

and THAT is why I'm going to miss study abroad. Random adventures with few consequences.

And so I found myself on the Dublin to Galway bus for the third time in two weeks. I amused myself by looking for the different landmarks that I've noticed in my frequent back and forth. The billboard asking you to 'SUPPORT CYSTIC FIBROSIS' (think about it), the house with the giant pouncing stone panther/tiger/nittney lion esque thing, Athlone (the town LEAST deserving of a 15 minute stop over) until finally, Emo gas station

hehehe. 

We spent the night in Galway, having a bonfire on the beach. We were one of two bonfires and kept attracting people mistaking us for their friends. Which I thought was pretty hilarious and led to this exchange:

Irish guy: HEYYYYY! HOW IS EVERYONE....oh wait, you aren't our friends

Kurt: It's ok man, we're all friends here, but I think you're looking for the one down the beach, see ya!

Irish guy: ummm....you guys seem a lot nicer than our friends...can we stay here. 

I also discovered that a 'smore made with chocolate covered digestive cookies are FAR superior to graham cracker 'smores. We had to get up the next morning and catch the 9:30 ferry to the islands, so clearly we ended the bonfire at 3. On the walk back we hit up Supermacs, which is like McDonalds, if McDonalds was a Juvenile Detention Center. CHAOS. Absolute CHAOS. I was slammed against the wall in the bathroom on more than one occasion by a drunk teenager who couldn't quite get walking down. Drinks were flying, food was flying, fists were flying. When a fast food chain has it's own security, you should take that as a bad sign. 

After a nice 4 hour nap we were up and on our way to the Islands. I was originally going to go there last week by myself, but unnamed sources had told me they were a bit blah, and that I would have to take a choppy boat ride there (I hate boats). I'm never listening to that unnamed source again because the Aran Islands were absolutely one of the top 3 (and making a good case for number one) things I've done on this trip. You get off the boat (which didn't make me sea sick at all!) and are met with a choice of transportation options. You can either see the island via Sprinter van tour, donkey cart, or bicycle. All of those sounded excellent to me, but we chose the quintessential study abroad option of biking. I would soon find out a better name for this would be "quickest way to piss off the locals". I don't even know where to begin describing the next two hours because it was pure bliss. Sparkling sea, sun in the sky, wind in your face as you glide down a hill. It was right out of a movie. After riding for about 2 hours we reached Dun Aengus, which is a ring fort on top of a cliff. This made me a bit sentimental as I had spent the past four months in Ireland and had yet to see one neolithic tomb or ring fort. While this one was a bit newer than the one's the Bogucki family usually hits up, still made me feel like the trip was a success. The main attraction of the fort, however, are the cliffs. You climb up to the top and then they drop down 100 meters...with no fence or warning. I've overcome a lot of fears on this trip, but I discovered that heights, still on my list. As my friends lay down on their bellys and peered over the edge I took one look over and immediately retreated. I got the idea. We took the coastal route back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Aran Islands seals. Anyone remember that movie "The Secret of Roan Inish"? It was pretty much a staple back in elementary school and is about the Aran Islands seals. We didn't see any. After returning our bicycles we caught the last ferry back to the main land. I sat down and passed out, next thing I knew we were pulling into port. After a bus ride back to Galway that took much longer than we had planned, we had to run to Hannah's apartment, grab our bags, then run back into the city in order to catch the last bus to Dublin. We made it by about 2 minutes. The bus ride back was less than fun as we were all tired, sore and still were working off of 4 hours of sleep. All in all, however, a fantastic final adventure.

Oh and...

Clifden..with videos!

Quick! Everyone pretend they're in Western Ireland!

I took a journey to the west of Ireland this weekend. Clifden was recommended (by their website) as the "gateway to Western Ireland". It then showed a slideshow of gorgeous countrysides that one could see while staying in glorious Clifden.
Truthfully? It was lovely. But it was a tourist town, no doubt about that. It was like vacationing at Plymouth Plantation. Actually, I would liken it more to Old Sturbridge Village...it lacked the polish of Plymouth Plantation. They were trying to be a tourist town, but the natives lacked the attitude that is necessary for a tourist town. Instead of rolling their eyes at the crazy bus tours that rolled on through, they looked excited to see tourists. I sat down for a cup of tea and two teenage girls literally squealed and watched me drink it. I gave them a quizative look and one of them nodded at me as if to say "go on, drink...please?". I didn't know whether to be offended or amused. Who am I kidding, I was amused. People making a huge deal out of mundane things is the highest form of comedy.
The town was odd in that the population was mainly Irish and French of all things. I thought this was fantastic. The French? This is one of the first French enclaves I've ever heard of and I was fascinated (I'm a nerd, I go to Bryn Mawr, I'm sorry). Why did they come to Clifden? Is there some form of industry here that I wasn't aware of? What drew them to podunk West Ireland? Is this the start of more emigration from France? Again, I was fascinated. The library was even called the "Biblioteque Municipale". The tourists were mainly senior bus tours, which delighted me even more. My life goal is to be old and go on bus tours. The social structure is AWESOME. The women all sit around a table gossiping while the men handle the drink and sandwich transactions and look frustrated. I sat in a pub and watched one group for a good hour. I had a lot of time to kill. At night I went to the pub for traditional Irish music. Since this was a tourist town the bar was filled with British tourists, plus a few Polish natives (I've accepted the fact that the majority of the Irish population is Polish, no matter where you are...they're there). One of the highlights of my night was being able to understand the drunk Polish girl behind me who kept muttering "I love you, I love you, I love you" to her boyfriend. I was honestly giddy when I realized I recognized what she was saying. I got a disapproving look from a lady on the British bus tour when she saw how fast I downed my pint. I'm not exactly a fast pint drinker, but when paired against 60 year old British garden party ladies I guess I drink quickly. After the only Irish person in the bar requested the band play Dueling Banjos I decided it was time for me to head out.
The bottom line of Clifden? I wouldn't recommend it without a car. However if you've been kidnapped and taken to Clifden, once you've contacted the authorities I suggest you take a look around. The bay is really spectacular when the sunlight hits it and lets not lie, it's in Western Ireland, one of the most beautiful spots in the world. Here are a few more videos to highlight the experience.
Before OMP protests, I'm aware the wall in this video is not "ancient"
One of the saddest moments of my trip to Ireland
The bus ride home through Connemara made the trip worthwhile. It was like driving through a calendar. I cannot describe the absolutely gorgeous views that we saw. I could have spent two days in a trash dump and that bus ride would have still made the trip worthwhile.
The absolute icing on the cake, however? On the bus ride back to Dublin we stopped randomly on the highway and a Guardai (policeman) boarded the bus. I love when this happens because usually its an immigration check and the Guardai starts cracking jokes about everyone's country of origin, and basically everyone leaves the check in a good mood. This one gets on and shouts "I'm sure you're all wearing seat belts!!!" then proceeds to check and make sure. The chorus of CLICKs that followed got me giggling. After he was done checking he begins to make a speech about the importance of seat belts. By this time I am actively shaking. He goes in for the kill with the statement "In addition to saving your life, seat belts also improve your posture". At this point I audibly laugh and double over trying to keep the laughter in me. He is not pleased, looks at me and says "Do you think seat belts are a laughing matter?". I manage to shake my head before he leaves the bus. How I'm still allowed to stay in the country is beyond me, but that was by far one of my top 5 moments of my entire trip to Ireland.

Final Exam Thoughts

Have you ever taken an exam in the esteemed halls of Taylor and wished that you could be someplace more fitting to take an exam? Say an airplane hanger or an abandoned fairgrounds? Yes? Then you should come to UCD.

I took my LAST EXAM today at RDS Simmonscourt, the other exam taking place. The bus drops you off at this rugby stadium that has an attached airplane-hanger-esque building. Thats where you take your exams...with 3500 other students. Imagine if everyone in the Tri-Co took their exams together. It was ridiculous. 

That being said I am DONE with my academic obligations here. Woohoo! Two weeks to go wild and do whatever I want. 

Random Studying Induced Thoughts

-A ridiculous amount of Irish students have the Footloose Soundtrack on their iTunes

-That being said, I have listened to 'Footloose' a ridiculous amount of times over the past 24 hours

-There is a group of guys who I swear must sit outside and wait for the minute I turn off my light to start playing soccer. This is followed by an hour of "thump...thump...thump...CRASH....thump...thump...." 

-I noticed when I first got here that Ireland doesn't have too many toy stores. I now know it's because give any kid here a soccer ball, or a hurling stick and they're good to go for hours. I will raise my children this way. Ideally with hurling sticks

-Google hurling, there's no way I can describe it.

-All semester there has been an area of the main walk to campus fenced off as they build "something". They finally took the fences down. What did they build? A bench. 

-I have discovered the perfect sandwich. A baguette filled with ham and snap beans. Try it, it will change your life. 

-I've reached the point where I can't even guilt trip myself into studying. This is a bad thing. 

-I have an exam tomorrow at 6...who does that? 6 o clock on a Saturday? 

-24 hours and it will be summer. 

Pain and Joy, all within 3 hours

Mawrtyrs, when you take your self scheduled exams this week I want you to get down on your knees and thank a god of your choosing that you have them. If ANY of you cheat or otherwise break the honor code and put them in jeopardy I will personally punch you in the face. I have seen the horror of scheduled exams, it's not pretty. 

My first exam was today at 9am. Thats fine, I'm not exactly a morning person, but 9am is a legitimate exam taking time. Here's the problem, UCD makes you take them at another site, ie not on campus. So I had to get over to the UCD Blackrock campus, a bucolic site a few miles from here that's only purpose appears to be a place for students to take exams. UCD kindly provided a shuttle bus....but wouldn't start the shuttles until 10am. Thats not going to help me, thanks though. I woke up this morning at 6 to try and cram in some more studying. As I stated before, I am not a morning person and this really was not a good plan. I decided to leave myself an hour to find this place and left the apartment at 7:45. My first obstacle came when the front door of our building, usually unlocked, was locked. To a normal minded person, this wouldn't be a big deal, you would simply turn the doorknob and continue on your way. I stood there in a haze wondering how I would ever get to my exam if I couldn't even leave the building. I really wonder how I've gotten this far in life sometimes. 

I'm glad I allotted an hour, because I got lost numerous times. Finally I found my way to the town of Blackrock, which basically made the town of Bryn Mawr look like a shanty town (I'm completely serious) and onto campus. Next I had to find the building, the place was deserted. It was 8:50 now, 10 minutes until my 9 exam, I'm in panic mode. I finally find a building swarmed in sequins and bad tans...I mean UCD students...and rightly assume it's the exam center. After carefully reading each sign to make sure I'm following the rules correctly (and there are a lot of them) I sit down at my assigned desk to await the exam. The first thing I notice is that the exam booklet is in Gaelic. OH BALLS! Luckily english instructions are written in smaller writing below the large bold Gaelic print. Again, a normal person would make this adjustment easily, however simple tasks are hard for me this early in the morning. The cover of the booklet was probably the hardest part of the exam. It took me roughly 15 minutes to figure out exactly what I needed to write on it. It asked for all sorts of numbers and codes. After the exam was done i asked one of the proctors if I had filled it out right, he gave me a look as if I had asked if the sky was blue. 

The exam itself went pretty well. Once i was situated and my mind in the zone I was good to go. I was still stressed, though, from studying the previous day and waking up early to get to the exam, so I decided a post-exam trip was in order. Anyone who knows me should be able to guess where I decided to go. Thats right, the zoo. Well, sort of. I walked down to the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) station to catch the train into town, but right next to the station was Dublin Bay/Irish Sea and it was absolutely stunning. So I hopped on the train and went the other direction towards Bray. Best decision I've made.

At Bray I sat on the beach for awhile. Many parents had taken their children down for a lunchtime outing so the beach was really alive. The favorite activity seemed to be to stand on the waters edge and throw rocks into the sea. Everyone was doing it, kids and adults. There must have been about 30 people just chucking rocks into the water. One kid clearly had some anger issues and started yelling "TAKE THAT SEA! YEA! WHAT NOW! I THREW A ROCK AT YOU!". I stayed away from that kid, I didn't want to risk being behind him when his last string of sanity snapped.

This was my third time to Bray, each time I go I find something new and enjoyable. The first time I went up Bray Head, the second time I discovered that the beach is really peaceful and this time I discovered the cliff walk. Wow, walking along the cliffs it's just you, the cliffs and a 50 foot drop to the ocean. 70 degree weather, sun in the sky, a cool breeze off the water, this is heaven. Growing on the rocks was this plant that had a scent that was a mixture of honey and sunscreen. Normally, repulsive, but absolutely perfect in this setting. Looking down the water was turquoise and crystal clear, almost like the water in the Bahamas. Walking along the cliffs gave the feeling of being either someplace tropical, or Cape Cod...I am fine with either. 

An ice cream cone (with sprinkles! Thats amazing, they don't usually have those here) back in town sealed the day as a success. 

During my first visit to Bray I sat on top of Bray Head and said "So this is what study abroad is about". As I walked along the cliffs today I'd occasionally stop, gaze out on the water and mutter "I can't believe I'm leaving this". I have a feeling the next two and a half weeks will include many return visits to Bray.

Galway, round 2

So I took a fairly spur of the moment trip to Galway to visit my friend Liz. She's leaving in a week and wanted a chance to show me Galway. She's been to Dublin to visit me twice and I chose the weekend she wasn't there to visit Galway the last time. Where our story last let off, my camera was out of batteries so I didn't have any pictures. While the camera is still out of batteries, I realized that we live in the internet age, so I present to you: "Marianna and Liz's Adventures in Galway, as seen though Google images"

Liz and I in front of Galway Bay
Liz feeding the Galway swans
They haven't gotten around to taking down the Christmas decorations yet. As you can see, Liz and I are judging them on this.
We did a little jig in front of Long Walk
I had some quality time with Oscar Wilde
Liz enjoyed the beautiful day
We found some friends, yay, look how happy we are, ahahhaahha. Good times.
We took a bus tour, I was less than pleased.
So we ended the night in a pub with some new friends.
Now I have to study for my two final exams. ick.

Had a great time visiting Liz. We checked out the aquarium...which was really more of a tank with fish in it that they charged 7 euro to see. I say pass if you're in the area. After a stroll along the bay we went back to her apartment for dinner. For nighttime entertainment she took me to her favorite pub for traditional music. We met a nice young German couple and the fiddlers grandson and his friends, including one that looked eerily identical to Ryan from The Office. I considered paying him money to yell "THIS GUY GROWS HIS OWN BEETS!", but passed. So we enjoyed the stereotypical Irish pub experience, throwing back a pint while singing pub songs. Very fun. Today we walked around town a little before I had to catch the bus back. It's GORGEOUS here today, so the bus ride through the Irish farmland was fantastic. Lots of baby sheep, horses and cows. On to studying.